Number of playgrounds per parish (FOI)

Request

A

Number of playgrounds per parish (including ones not in use)?

B

Location site of playground?

C

Size of the playgrounds (square metres)?

D

Age range playground caters for?

E

Year of installation of playground equipment?

F

Yearly budget for maintenance of playground?

G

Any privately owned playgrounds within the parish (for example Andium homes, education sites and so on)?

Response

A to E

The Government of Jersey does not maintain a list regarding all playgrounds which contain the requested details, therefore Article 10 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

However, the Government of Jersey holds the information detailed below, some of which is partially exempt under Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 as the information is publicly available.

Work has been undertaken previously to assist with spatial planning, which looked at the provision of space generally.  The space has been categorised into various types, which included play space.

This information can be viewed in the documents linked below.

• Open Space Study 2008

Outdoor Open Space, Sport & Recreation Study (gov.je)

• St Helier Open Space Audit 2018

St. Helier Open Space Audit.pdf (gov.je)

The attached table provides the playground information held by the Parks and Gardens section within Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE).

IHE Parks and Gardens playground information.pdf

It should be noted that ariel photos were taken in 1997 which included images of the parks, that showed some of the current equipment was already in situ at this time.

Our systems are not configured in a way that will allow extraction of all the installation periods requested.  

A manual search of records would be required in order to obtain this information. 

It has been estimated that it would take in excess of 12.5 working hours to locate and retrieve the data requested.  This part of your request will therefore not be processed further.

A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

F

There is not a specific annual budget in relation to playground maintenance.  This work would usually be covered by the general maintenance budget for each specific department.

Additional budgets may also be granted if playground equipment needed to be replaced. For example, any maintenance or safety inspection work carried out on the playgrounds detailed in the above table would be under the general parks and gardens maintenance budget.

G

Details of the school playgrounds are shown in the attached list provided by the Education section within Children, Young People, Education and Skills.

Schools - Playgrounds.xlsx

The information requested in relation to Parish and Andium Homes Limited playgrounds is not held by the Government of Jersey, however, it may be held by the parishes or Andium Homes Limited so you might wish to send your information request in writing to: 

Parishes

FOI@comite.je

Or by post to:   

Parish FOI, East Wing, RJA & HS, Trinity, JE3 5JP

You can also find out more about making an FOI request to the parishes at 

How to Make an FOI Request Comité des Connétables (comite.je)

Andium Homes Limited

foi@andiumhomes.je

or by post to 

Andium Homes Limited, 33-35 Don Street, St Helier, JE2 4TQ. 

You can also find out more about making an FOI request to Andium Homes at: 

Andium Homes Freedom of Information (andiumhomes.je)

Articles applied

Article 10 - Obligation of scheduled public authority to confirm or deny holding Information

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), if –

(a) a person makes a request for information to a scheduled public authority; and

(b) the authority does not hold the information, it must inform the applicant accordingly.

Article 16 A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive 

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

Regulation 2 (1) of the Freedom of Information (Costs) (Jersey) Regulations 2014 allows an authority to refuse a request for information where the estimated cost of dealing with the request would exceed the specified amount of the cost limit of £500. This is the estimated cost of one person spending 12.5 working hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information. 

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.